Gunman Opens Fire at White House Correspondents’ Dinner

4 min read

A gunman armed “with multiple weapons” has barrelled through security at the White House Correspondents’ dinner in Washington in what looks like an attempt to assassinate Donald Trump. The Telegraph has more.

The US President was rushed off stage by his security detail after several gunshots rang out at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on Saturday. …

The shooter was armed with “a shotgun, a handgun, and multiple knives”, according to police.

One officer was “struck in his vest” as gunfire was exchanged. The agent was taken to hospital but was “in great shape”, Mr Trump told a press conference later that evening.

No shots were fired at the gunman, however, who got past two checkpoints in the Washington Hilton hotel before he was brought down “right outside” the ballroom, raising questions about the event’s security.

The incident took place some 60–100 yards away from the US President and 3,000 other guests, including Melania Trump, White House officials, Hollywood celebrities and journalists.

Video showed Mr Trump and the First Lady sitting at a banquet table on stage engaged in conversation with a guest when a commotion at the rear of the room – caused by the sound of gunshots – broke out.

People then began shouting “get down, get down!” as five to eight shots rang out.

Many of the attendees, dressed in tuxedos and ball gowns, took cover under tables as security drew their weapons and formed a protective cordon.

Agents in combat fatigues and armed with rifles stormed the stage as Mr Trump, his wife and J.D. Vance, the US Vice-President, were evacuated.

Video taken from behind the table showed Mr Vance being ushered to safety before the US President, who fell over as he was led out of the room.

The Mail reports that the shooter is a California teacher named Cole Tomas Allen:

Federal prosecutors have moved quickly and already announced he is being charged with two counts of using a firearm during a crime of violence and assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon. 

He is expected to be arraigned in federal court on Monday. 

If convicted, Allen could face 20 years in jail for the assault, while the weapons charges come with a minimum of 10 years with a possibility of life behind bars if fired.

“It is clear, based upon what we know so far, this individual was intent on doing as much harm and as much damage as he could,” United States Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said, adding that “there will be many more charges based upon the information that we are learning in this very fluid situation.”

Cops swarmed on Allen’s parents’ $877,000 home on Saturday night shortly after he was arrested.

Despite the scale of the attack, officials say Allen had no prior criminal record and was not previously known to law enforcement in Washington, DC.

He is one of four siblings, including two sisters, Stephanie and Arviana, and a brother, Gabriel, according to publicly available information.

Photographs circulating online show him smiling alongside family members at graduations and gatherings. 

His social media details he is highly educated and academically accomplished.

On LinkedIn, he describes himself as: “A mechanical engineer and computer scientist by degree, independent game developer by experience, teacher by birth.”

Allen earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology and later a Master of Science in Computer Science from a California State University.

During his time at Caltech, Allen listed his involvement in the Caltech Christian Fellowship and the Caltech Nerf Club.

More recently, Allen had been working in education. In December 2024, he was named Teacher of the Month at C2 Education, a recognition typically reserved for standout instructors.

Worth reading in full.

The Telegraph reveals the shooter donated to the Kamala Harris campaign: “Mr Allen’s only apparent political activity is a $25 (£19) donation to Ms Harris’s presidential campaign in October 2024 through ActBlue, the primary fundraising platform for Democrats, according to the Federal Election Commission website.”

Stop Press: Colin Wright has updated his famous cartoon depicting the growing insanity of America’s far Left:

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23 Comments
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zebedee
zebedee
4 months ago

31 years old and still living at home with his parents

Gezza England
Gezza England
4 months ago

If only there was a big ballroom at the White House to hold this event. Perhaps somebody might be kind enough to fund building one….

zebedee
zebedee
4 months ago

BS in ME, MS in CS, then becomes a teacher. Looks like his rich parents indulged him as he spent a fortune trying to work out his vocation.

soundofreason
soundofreason
4 months ago

I’m rather surprised the (presumed) gunman survived.

Heretic
Heretic
4 months ago
Reply to  soundofreason

You’d think they would’ve at least kicked him in the teeth, you know, accidentally … just to wipe that smirk off his face.

Curio
Curio
4 months ago

Is it not strange that the heroic teacher pushes the security man out of the way, the security man picks himself off the floor and with the rest of the detail are chasing but not shooting. The brave man then passes by a few more of the security men, goes in, assembles a long weapon, also pulls out a pistol and a few knives and only then they immobilise him, but still very careful not to shoot. Apparently this was a warning to Trump to restore their wages. Conspiracy theories welcome.

Heretic
Heretic
4 months ago

Some interesting public comments:

— “Same hotel Reagan was shot in. Seems they haven’t learnt anything since about security there.”

— “And how does a man with a small armoury book himself into an hotel that supposedly is under the tightest level of security with security officers crawling all over it? Did no one perform luggage checks?”

— “Having watched the video of the guy running by security I’m amazed at the lack of alertness of security. They were all standing around looking like they had nothing to do. The guy ran towards them carrying weapons and they all just stood around watching him. It was only after he shot someone and actually ran right by them that they suddenly seemed to spring into… a flurry of confusion.”


Heretic
Heretic
4 months ago
Reply to  Heretic

— “He was supposedly given an award of ‘best teacher’ only a few weeks ago. From his writing he seems barely literate…”

— “Give it up. Everyone sees it for the joke it is.
The guy literally ran past security, fired shots at a secret service agent, didn’t get hit once by any agency, got caught and charged with only weapons offences?”

This is the same bizarre thing that happened when Breivik shot 70 Norwegian teenagers at that socialist summer camp, but was arrested without a scratch on him!

transmissionofflame
transmissionofflame
4 months ago
Reply to  Heretic

This shows it (assuming it’s real) Trump and his officials ‘likely’ targets of suspected gunman, acting attorney general says – follow live – BBC News

When the bloke runs at him, it looks like he jumps out of the way, and he wasn’t paying much attention to begin with. Not saying I would have done a better job but are these people not meant to be highly trained?

Heretic
Heretic
4 months ago

Thanks for that link. I just read that the gunman shot a police officer twice in the chest at point-blank range, trying to kill him, but he was saved by his bulletproof vest.

Some US commenters also made a couple of interesting points. One said the reason Trump mentioned the ballroom is that the security there would have been much tighter, with no random hotel guests just allowed to book in without an official invitation.

Another said that even as a legal official, she couldn’t get into a Georgia state court building without walking through a metal detector, so why was federal security at this hotel so lax?

And a third said that the reason Melania reacted to the gunshot sounds before anyone else around her, as evident from one video showing her shocked face looking toward the sounds while those around her just kept chatting, was because she remembers those sounds from her childhood growing up in Slovenia during the civil war…

transmissionofflame
transmissionofflame
4 months ago
Reply to  Heretic

The whole thing seems a bit fishy to me

Heretic
Heretic
4 months ago

Well, you have a point, but it seems to me that if it were staged, they would have used a White Man.

Heretic
Heretic
4 months ago
Reply to  Heretic

This incident shows that King Charles was quite right to be extremely cautious about Trump’s state visit last time, giving him a very restricted ceremonial welcome protected by the grounds of the royal estates, away from the public.

FerdIII
FerdIII
4 months ago

Black. Black on White Crime. Leftard on ‘Right’ (aka normal people) crime.
Never ending violence against normal Whites or guys like Trump (whatever you think of him).

Imagine if Trumpy was Black, Muslim or looked like Kamalalarama and attacked by a whitey…..can you imagine the fake news, fake-expert hysterics.

JXB
JXB
4 months ago

Immediately: name, address, personal details, photo, published – how unlike the UK where such information has to be teased out of the police over days or even weeks.

Heretic
Heretic
4 months ago

Look at that family photo, with smug white liberal virtue-signalling woman. Not one of the kids looks like either of their parents. The father should have listened to the great Cassius Clay, proud Ethnic African fighter who declared that he didn’t want to marry a white woman. He said he wanted to marry “his own”, because only an Ethnic African woman could really understand him. He also said, “I want my child to look like me.”

The Bible warns against miscegenation, and God punished people for “taking strange wives”.

Jack the dog
Jack the dog
4 months ago
Reply to  Heretic

I see what looks like a happy family and smiling well adjusted kids, it’s a shocking sign of the penetration and strength of the liberal mind virus that a kid from a decent background should do something so stupid and evil.

Free Lemming
Free Lemming
4 months ago
Reply to  Jack the dog

It is not a sign that virtuosity looks like one thing but is actually something very different?

Free Lemming
Free Lemming
4 months ago
Reply to  Heretic

Oohhhh, careful. Remember, tribes only tolerate their tribe and if you talk about other tribes talking about the exact same thing that your tribe is talking about then you’ll be banished from your tribe. It’s important to remember how amazing and original your own tribe is.

Heretic
Heretic
4 months ago
Reply to  Free Lemming

I admired Cassius Clay’s refusal to conform to Leftist brainwashing promoting miscegenation, his refusal to chase after White Women, and his brave defence of Ethnic African women.

Muhammad Ali is Anti RaceMixing

Muhammad Ali – Against Race Mixing

I challenge anyone to find a well-known Third World Ethnic in the West who has chosen a spouse from their own Ethnic Group, whether male or female, including celebrities, athletes and politicians. I have only ever heard of one Ethnic African politician in the UK who married one of “his own”, and one Ethnic African Hollywood actor who did the same: Will Smith. All the others chose Ethnic Europeans as spouses, like fashion handbags, as a demonstration of success.

Heretic
Heretic
4 months ago
Reply to  Heretic

This includes Ethnic Africans, Ethnic Orientals, and Indian Subcontinentals, and I just thought of one more who rightly chose to marry one of “his own” and had kids that look like him: Rishi Sunak.

Jon Garvey
Jon Garvey
4 months ago

Bloody Far Right MAGA terrorists again…

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